Dinesh Trivedi orders probe into Tamil Nadu train accident

New Delhi, Sep 14(ANI): Union Railways Minister Dinesh Trivedi today said that he would direct his personal attention into probing the cause behind the train accident near Arakkonam in Tamil Nadu's Vellore District.

Ten people were reportedly killed and over 100 others were wounded when a passenger train rammed into a stationary train last night.

The two trains involved in the tragedy are the Chennai Beach-Vellore Cantonment Mainline Electrical Multiple Unit (MEMU) and the Arakkonam-Katpadi passenger.

Addressing mediapersons in New Delhi, Trivedi said that he would travel to the accident site as quickly as possible, and announced monetary compensation for the victims.

"We are in touch with all the railway officials who have reached the site. I am personally taking the first available flight, along with the chairman and (K.H.) Muniyappa (Minister of State for Railways), and the other railway board members," Trivedi said.

The Railways Minister announced ex-gratia assistance of five lakh rupees each to the next of kin of the deceased, one lakh rupees for those who suffered grievous injuries, and 25,000 rupees for those who suffered minor injuries.

Trivedi further said that there was a possibility of human error in the accident and that needs to be probed.

"All these things do take time. It's just been two months and if there is a human error or not, we do not know. What appears, and I cannot really be responsible and say this is the cause, but there are many times, human errors. We do not know what exactly has happened. All these technical things are time consuming, but we cannot leave any stone unturned, and I am personally, very much disturbed," he said.

He also said that it needs to be investigated whether the locomotive driver rested well before coming on duty.

"And if it is also a human error, we have got to go down into the causes. Why these human errors are occurring? These human errors also, need to be looked into, so we need to ensure that all those loco drivers, all those motor drivers, have they been rested? That was my first question," Trivedi said.

"This train had just taken off, about eight kilometres from the station, and I also was told that the driver was very well rested. He had 16 hours of rest. These are the initial questions any normal human being would ask," he added. (ANI)